Traditions...

I was inspired by a friends blog to write down all the many traditions that we have as a family during the Christmas season! There are so many that I am hoping I remember them all- here goes...

1. Taking a family/kids picture a week or so before Thanksgiving for our family Christmas card.
2. Getting a new ornament from Grandma and Grandpa in Illinois the first week in December for each of my kids. (They did this for me every year as a kid and I have all of them now- so cool!)
3. Decorating the Christmas tree in the family room with my kids while we watch Elf.
4. Going to see Santa at the mall and getting a photo- and I display the former pictures in my home too during Christmastime so we can see how much they've grown!!
5. Coming up with a creative neighbor gift and driving them around with the kids to deliver (and Chan when he can!)
6. Having a Christmas party at our home with friends, family and co-workers the Saturday before Christmas.
7. Having hot chocolate with marshmallows every time we play in the snow!
8. Making Sausage fondue every Christmas Eve to have for breakfast Christmas morning.
9. Giving out pajamas as a gift for all the kids on Christmas Eve and getting a picture of them together before they go to bed.
10. Putting Christmas music on and having the video camera in hand before the kids come in Christmas morning (that ones for you Dad).
11. Singing obnoxious carols as loud as we can when we are in the truck together! So fun!
12. Reading the book "I believe in Santa Claus" with my kids.
13. Christmas Day is usually spent all day/night at Chan's parents where we eat and enjoy LOTS of family until the wee hours! But this year we'll be with MY family! Yay!
14. Staying up late with Chan on Christmas Eve being Santa's helpers and watching the marathon of "A Christmas Story" on TV.
15. Wrapping presents like it's a contest!! I LOVE to wrap!!
16. Chan going online and looking at NORAD Santa tracker on Christmas Eve with the kids.

I am sure there's more I am NOT thinking of right now- but how blessed we are! I love spending every waking moment with Chan and my kids and celebrating the birth of Jesus! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas came early...

Yesterday we went over to Chan's parents home to celebrate Christmas with them and his sisters and their families! We leave soon to go to Illinois to celebrate Christmas with my family this year, so we got to have an early Christmas here! We had all the kids come in red so we could get a picture, but little did Gamma and Papa know- this was a little Christmas trick! We had the kids take a professional photo in these same outfits a week earlier as a gift and had it blown up for them! It was a great gift and they LOVED it! In the picture are my kids, Annie's boy Dakota and Brooke's kids Myles and Sophie! Aren't they soooo cute! ;) And below is a picture slide show of the kids and others opening gifts and having fun! Thanks everybody- we had an awesome time! Merry Christmas!

Being festive...

I LOVE Christmastime! I love to make my house look festive! This is my front room- obviously I have a thing for snowflakes! It started with a few after Christmas sale items at Target and has grown a bit! But I love it! ;)
Here is a shot of just the tree in this room (yes I have another one...)
This is what I have above the piano- I took pictures of each of the kids with a Santa hat on and printed them out... they turned out cute!
This is the end table by the couch- it has the most current picture of the kids with Santa.
Here is the tree in my family room! it's getting pretty full, so I may need to switch things around next year! The ornaments on here are so fun- the ones my Mom got ME every year when I was growing up, and then the ones she has gotten the kids every year. It's a tradition that I LOVE!
This is my mantle above my fireplace in this room- it has all my nativity scenes. The one in the middle that is southwestern was my Mom's and she let me have it this year! ;)
This is a shelf in that same room- this Santa was a gift and I think he's pretty cool!
I also have a few random items from the kids! This is Brianne's Christmas tree she did in her class at school. She had a blast making it! She has also made some art projects and pictures and I am sure there will be more coming home soon!
This is another tradition in our house- a LEGO advent calendar! This is a new one we got this year and we add a block each day and the last blocks are gold and there's a small flame that goes on top to make it a candle! In the past years we have gotten their usual advent that has little doors you open and has a small LEGO thing to build. Those were fun too- but this one we can use year after year! Christmas is so fun!!!! I was going to get a picture of the outside of our house last night but forgot- so I'll try to add that in soon! Merry Christmas!!

Brianne's big day!

Brianne's big day was this past Saturday- she was baptized!!! She turned 8 on November 2nd and has been waiting patiently for her baptism day to come!
The reason she waited just a bit longer was so that Grandma Panko and Pa Boo (my parents Loren and Patty) could be there.
She was excited and a bit nervous too, but anxious to get there and get it done! Her brother's were excited for her as well.
Gamma Kathy and Papa Tom were there too (Chan's parents) as well as Dakota, Annie, Gerardo, the Skinner family and a few Ward members and friends. It was a great day!
I LOVE this picture! It's a shot of Brianne and Chan in front of the font shortly before she was baptized. It all went really smoothly and they did it perfectly the first time!
We are soooooo proud of her and her decision to be baptized! She was introduced to our Ward as the newest member of the church on Sunday and then she bore her testimony and did a great job! Way to go Brianne!! We love you!!! :)

The Trophy

My cute hubby has been bugging me to get this picture posted on here- it was on a different camera than the other pics from Las Vegas. It's a shot of Carter with the championship trophy! It's a big one!!

Game Time in Vegas!

Carter and the team ended up playing their first game the Friday after Thanksgiving against a team from Henderson Nevada. When the game started our guys were READY and Carter was pumped!!
We were all there to cheer him and his team on! Brianne and her friend from her cheer team even went down on the track to cheer them on! The crowd loved it!
This team was so fun to watch!! They killed Henderson 40 to 0!!
It was a bit surprising to see that there wasn't much of a crowd cheering on the Henderson team given they were locals- kinda strange! But our cheering section was pretty dang good- air horns and all!! We love our Alta boys!!
Carter was able to play center again- his favorite spot!! He did an amazing job!!
The next game was on Saturday and the team they played was from Idaho and they had beat the Henderson team as well. These guys were bigger, but again we were ready!!
This game ended up being almost a repeat of the previous game! Our guys were on fire!!
And again our cute Brianne and her friend were cheering away!!
They were so dang cute! And did a great job!! They even got us cheering with them!
Carter was really having a great time and had a fantastic game!!
Will was helping me cheer from the stands- you can see me in his glasses!! Hee hee! And Will lost a tooth while we were there- can you tell?!!
And again we took the win and it was a good one 36 to 0!! Woo Hoo!!
Chan and Tom had a great time watching Carter and the team play!
With that win the team took the National Youth Conference Football Championship for their division!!! Way to go boys!!!!
Here is a shot of Carter with some of his great friends- he had so much fun with them on this trip!
And once again we couldn't be prouder! We are so proud of Carter and how well he is playing! Way to go Bubba!!! We love you!

Thanksgiving a new way

So being in a new city on the Thanksgiving Holiday we were forced to eat out, so Chan had the idea of calling our favorite restaurant in Las Vegas to see if they were serving Thanksgiving dinner and guess what- THEY WERE!! So we made a reservation for our family as well as Tom, Kathy, Annie, Gerardo and Dakota for dinner :) It was a fun and new experience! Brianne was having fun!
And Carter was too! Him and Will surprised me and ordered a special Salmon dish and they LOVED it!
It is such a fun thing to go outside of the norm and do something totally different! But I do admit I like staying home with the family much better! :) I missed smelling the turkey in the house, Chan's fresh rolls (The ones his grandma used to make), watching the Macy's parade and just hanging out with family.
I was glad that the food was great and that some of the family was able to come down with us! It wouldn't have been the same without them there!
Here's a shot of the table and everyone that was there- except me of course I was taking the photo!! We all had a great time! (Dakota is behind Carter- oops!)
I realized when I was packing the kids clothes that I had brought all of them something red to wear! I guess I was in a festive mood?!!! But they do look good don't they!!
Thanks Claim Jumper for a fantastic and new Thanksgiving Dinner!! And thanks again to Chan's family who made the trek to join us!!

COLOR ME PROUD!

So about a month ago Brianne and Will entered a school contest where the kids were asked to use the arts to describe a theme and the theme was beauty is... My kids have never done this contest before but both of them wanted to do it! I of course encouraged them to do it too! Then we sat down and decided what to do....
Brianne just sat down with crayons and paper and drew this picture! I thought she did such a great job and apparently so did the judges for our school because she took 2nd place out of all the 2nd graders! I am so proud of her!!
Will on the other hand decided he wanted to do photography, which he had never attempted before, and he told me he wanted to go and take a photo of his Gamma & Papa's back yard! So off we went and he took control of the camera and did a great job!
Here is the final shot he decided on- he took several pictures but we both liked this one best. He did well too and placed 5th out of all the 5th graders!! Again.... SOOOO PROUD!! Don't you just love art!!

Last Friday evening we heard our doorbell ring at about 9:30pm and I was wondering who it could be when I opened the door and saw this in our yard!
Carter's team Mom had gone around to all the boys homes and "decorated" their front yard with a sign and some streamers! It was a fun surprise so I called Carter out to get a shot of him with his sign! Now notice- there is nothing on the ground aside from a few leaves- it was windy and cold- but that was it! (I know you can't tell by what he is wearing, but we weren't out there very long!)
Will and I were the first ones to the field Saturday morning! Chan was still out of town (he got home just in time to see the 2nd and 3rd quarters of Will's game before heading off to Carter's) so Kathy helped me get Carter and Brianne to the field. That morning I did some "war paint" on all the boys before their game!
The sun was still out and it was only about 25 degrees and they game began- but the sky was looking very ominous!
It wasn't long before THIS began- yes that's right.......SNOW!!! We were very lucky to avoid it up to this point, but man it sure hit hard! Will's game was intense and was tied 7 to 7 at the half.
It only got more intense as the weather got more intense!! It was an all out battle and even went into overtime!
But in the end they lost in overtime 7 to 13........ it was a tough loss, but up until that game they had won every single game!! So they went away with their heads held high!
So you would think that with weather like this cheerleaders wouldn't show up right? Well.........
you were WRONG!!! yes that is the cheerleaders under the tent! On occasion they would wander out into the snow to do their cheers! Talk about troopers!!
I was so proud of Brianne this year and her cheer leading- she really does a great job and it has been sooooo fun to watch her do it!
This was a shot of her under the tent during half time! She was pretty darn cold!
Check out the wind........ see how bad the flag is blowing? Yeah so fun!!!!
After the half it got even worse- my camera lens wouldn't stop fogging up!! But I liked this shot because it shows the helmet sticker the team mom got for the team just for the playoffs- it says United!
The snow was blowing just crazy and Carter's game was just as intense and Will's but because of the weather was even more extreme. It's tough to play in this kind of weather!!!
His game was an all out battle as well, and they made a few crucial mistakes that got Bingham on top.
But they didn't give up and got within 5 points and were trying their hardest to get one more touchdown for the win!
Unfortunately they came up short- this was their huddle after losing the game. They played well and had a great season!!
I just had to get these last two shots in- this one is of Gamma Kathy lending Will some gloves and a hat after his game so he could endure the cold!
And this is a shot of some die hard fans!!! That's right- Gamma Kathy and Papa Tom enduring the freezing cold weather to watch their grand kids! Aren't they the BEST!!! What a great season we've had!! GO HAWKS!!